Warlock Specs, Builds and Pointers
In World of Warcraft, Warlocks are quite a bit different than others classes. Unlike the Mage, Warlocks have pets and have to focus on Stamina as well as Intellect. Unlike the Hunter, some of the Warlock’s pets use Mana, another uses Rage and they’re demons.
Warlocks boast some of the
most powerful spells out of any class within World of Warcraft, but they can be mighty confusing if you aren’t sure how to play them. Just like any class in WoW, Warlocks have to be played with a certain mentality in mind. If you’re Destruction, you’re playing with direct, blasting damage bolts into the targets eyes and/or skull. Afflicition is all about precisely calculated damage over time, and Demonology is for the Warlock who wants to boost the power of their enslaved minions to do their bidding. Each specialization and build for World of Warcraft Warlocks has it’s place, and it’s important that you know how to use them.
Affliction
So you’ve decided upon Affliction? If you’ve ever played a Mage, Hunter or Shaman, throw all of your previous thoughts about PvP out the window. Affliction Warlocks operate in a smooth, calculated fashion. You’re not going to be throwing around Shadowbolts and Soulfire bolts to kill your opponent. As an Affliction Warlock, you’ve chosen to slowly degrade your opponent’s lifeforce, mana or stats over time, making them weak and ultimately leading to their demise.
Affliction Pointers:
- Focus your gear on boosting your spell damage. Since your damage over time spells can’t critically strike, it’s a waste to put any gear on that increases critical strike rating.
- Buff up your Curses, Immolate, and Corruption. These are going to be your main tools. Take all of the talents you can that help these spells.
- Never forget to run. Running is one of the keys to victory when playing an Affliction Warlock. Keep in mind that since your spells are DoT (Damage over time) spells, you don’t have to be standing in one place to cast them. Set them and run away, watching your opponent’s life force drain as they try to catch you.
- Remember, you’ve got Fear. You don’t wear platemail or chainmail or even leather like other classes. Fear is one of the Affliction Warlocks biggest tools. Use it a love it, for it’ll often keep you from death while you’re waiting on your damage over time spells to do your work for you!
Destruction
Destruction is not for the calculated. Destruction doesn’t care about subtlety or sneaky behaviour. Destruction is there to demolish things. With Destruction, you’ve chosen that the best way for you to do damage is by hurling Soulfires, Chaos Bolts, and Shadow Bolts at people’s faces – and it’s not a bad choice.
Destruction Pointers:
- Unlike Affliction, Destruction depends on you being faster than your opponent. Increase the range on your Destruction spells so you can simply stand further away as you cast them. This will increase the time it’ll take for melee classes to get to you, thus allowing you to get in more damage.
- Buff up your spell damage, but more importantly, try to do everything you can to increase your critical strike rating with spells. Warlocks already have high critical damage from the talent “Ruin”, so increasing the chance to critically strike will often double your damage. Critical strike rating is more efficient for Warlocks than it is with any other class in the game. Use it.
- Use your succubus. Using the succubus pet will allow you to seduce your opponent and keep them occupied as you position yourself for another blast. Unlike Affliction, you can’t just bounce around throwing DoT spells on your target. You’ll need a position within line of sight. The succubus will achieve this for you.
Demonology
Demonology is a strange breed indeed. You’ve chosen not to focus on either DoT spells or direct damage spells. You figure that you’ve got a demon and you may as well make it kick some ass. Otherwise, what good is it doing? None!
Demonology Pointers:
- Demonology talents increase your pets effectiveness by as much as twofold and some of them enhance your pet’s abilities. Take every talent you can to get the maximum efficiency out of your pet.
- Stamina is a very important attribute for a Demonology Warlock. Since some of your Stamina gets transferred to your pet, you’re going to need a lot if you want your pet to stand up to the abuse it’s going to take. Stack up on Stamina and Intellect.
- Hide. You’ve made your pet incredibly badass. There is no need for you to take extra abuse if you don’t need to. Let your pet do some fighting while you stand in the bushes just providing support.
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